Hi friends. A couple years ago I started primarily scripture for big kids, the ones who could read the scriptures but weren't quite sure what to do next. Over the years, as I've told people that I help kids learn how to study the scriptures, I've had so many adults tell me "that's something that I need too!" And this has been new converts people who've been in the church forever, young, old, it doesn't matter. It seems like most people think that our scripture study could use a little bit of help. Well, I don't have a magic wand that will transform your studies overnight. There's no "one weird trick" click bait, or anything like that. I am not a super scriptorian, and I don't even have an unbroken streak of days reading the scriptures. I still miss days in my scripture study. But what I do have is a testimony of scripture study. I have had experiences with getting answers and feeling the spirit as a result of doing small and simple things as part of my study. So grab your scriptures and let's dive in. I'll show you what I do. This month we are focusing on how to get started reading your scriptures. So last week we talked about what to read, what counts as scripture. I gave you some ideas on making goals that can act as your foundation and your purpose in studying. So how those goals can work together to set you up for success even when you're in the middle of a perceived failure is super important. So be sure you don't miss that episode. But, fair warning, after today's episode, you might just decide to adjust your goals, so be prepared for that. Today we are going to talk about how much to study. The short answer is it depends on what your goal is. That's why goals are the first step. So if your academic goal- the one that can be measured and tracked- is to, say, read the entire Old Testament. Then what you need to do is do some math to figure out how much to read every day. First of all, you need to know that the Old Testament is long. It is so long and it can be very hard to read, so be prepared for that. Now, it has 1,184 pages and like 23,000 plus verses, so to get it done in a year, you need to read 63 verses a day, or like three and a half pages a day. And that's not too bad. You could definitely do it if that was your goal. But what if your goal is something else? What if your goal is to follow Come Follow Me? Then in that case, there are some chapters in the Old Testament that you won't even have to read. For instance, the book of Leviticus has 27 chapters and we only study four of them and Come Follow Me. So in fact, I would super encourage you to have Come Follow Me be part of your scripture study. Because Come Follow Me is the official study course for our classes, for our homes and our families. It's inspired of God and studying it is one way to follow the prophet. So let me tell you what the Come Follow Me manual says.

"Come follow me is for anyone who wants to learn from the scriptures- individually as a family and in church classes. If you haven't studied the scriptures regularly in the past, this resource can help you get started. If you already have a good habit of scripture study, this resource can help you have more meaningful experiences." Isn't that great? That is straight from the manual. So I strongly recommend that you follow Come Follow Me, even if you have other scriptures that you're studying too and other goals. Now, if your goal is to follow Come Follow Me, then here's a super important trick that I love to share with people, and you might want to use it to help you stick to your goal.'cause isn't sticking to your goal is one of the things that is really hard? Okay? Ready? Here it goes. If you miss a day or a week, don't try to catch up! I mean, you can if you want, but you don't have to. And that is one of the biggest tricks. Give yourself permission right now not to worry about what you didn't do yesterday or didn't do last week, and just move forward. Start at the current week, read those assigned chapters, and you'll be following the schedule and preparing yourself for your Sunday classes and your lessons. And it's okay that you weren't 100% perfect every day. Nobody is perfect! In fact, that's one of the biggest mistakes that I see when people are making goals in their scripture study is to be perfect somehow. No one is expected to be perfect while they're here on earth, so why do we put that into our goals?! Especially if you see yourself as a beginner, you're looking for scripture study help, then why would you have your scripture study goal be "perfect" anything? So take that idea of perfection. Just crumple it up, so to speak, and throw it over your shoulder. Now, no matter what your goal is, there's this super great way to track your progress right in the Gospel Library app. So you just go to the home screen, find study plans, and choose what you want to study right there. It just walks you through the steps. And there are pre-made plans for Come Follow Me or Seminary readings, but you could make a custom plan, set a schedule, so you finish in a month, or a year, or six months. You can even set reminders that pop up automatically on your device. So study plans feature is fantastic in the Gospel library and I definitely encourage you to use those to reach your academic goal- the one that can be tracked and measured, right? Now, as long as you are tracking and measuring your progress, if you see at some point that there's room for improvement or need for a change. Then go ahead and adjust that. You might decide to switch from reading for 10 minutes a day to only five because that's more manageable. Or instead of reading all of the Come Follow Me chapters, you focus on just one or two of them. So there's a lot of wiggle room here. Does that make sense? Presumably, you're also working on your other goal from last week to feel the spirit and let the scriptures touch your heart. So I want you to remember what Elder D Todd Christofferson said: "You should care more about the amount of time you spend in the scriptures than the amount you read in that time... You may not read a lot of chapters or verses in a half hour, but you will be giving place in your heart for the word of God and he will be speaking to you." Did you catch that? How long you read is more important than how much you read. Straight from an apostle, he said that! So how long do you want to read? Do you have an hour a day, or do you maybe only have five minutes or is it somewhere in the middle? As you think about this, don't overestimate the amount of time you will actually spend. I mean, an hour sounds great, but will you actually spend that much time in the scriptures? If not, then please don't make that your goal. Please?! However much time you have, the goal is to be consistent and to study as often as possible. Every day would be best, right? But if you're not there yet, then a few times a week is a good start. Whatever you decide, make sure it's something that you can actually do. And little by little I will teach you what to do with that time so that you are getting the most out of it.'Cause it doesn't actually take much time to have a really great study session! The apostle Elder Gary E. Stevenson said, "Many people spend an average of seven hours a day looking at tv, computer, and smartphone screens." Oh, isn't that horrible? And then he asks, "Will you replace some of that daily screen time, particularly that devoted to social media, the internet, gaming or television, with reading the Book of Mormon, even if for only 10 minutes a day?" And then I would go so far as to say that 10 minutes of any scripture study is going to bless your life. He said The Book of Mormon, but it really could be any scripture. Do you think an apostle of the Lord would ask you to study for 10 minutes per day if he didn't think that it would be helpful to you? As little as 10 minutes can be enough for you to open your mind to learn the doctrine and open your heart to feel the spirit. And together those things will help you to build and strengthen your testimony. And isn't that what we're trying to do? What was your second goal? Think about that. So how much should you read and study? Again, it's really up to you and it depends on what your goals are. So you're going to have to think about those goals and adjust them. But I want you to keep these principles in mind as you make your decision and fine tune your goals. Okay? Come Follow Me is inspired and is the official study plan for this year. Also, perfection is not a reasonable goal. Be ready to jump back in even if you slip up. Time spent is more important than pages or verses or chapters read. So ask yourself, how much time will I give the Lord in scripture? Study each day. Because quality is more important than quantity. And remember that an apostle asked you if you could please replace 10 minutes of your screen time with scripture study. Is that something that you're willing to commit to? That's a big question. Something to consider. So I have worksheets on my website. They're always free, no strings attached. Just head over to primarily scripture.com and you can find them there and they do go along with Come Follow Me, so you can use those to assist you as you are doing your study. No matter what you are reading, the most important thing to do is remember that you're trying to connect with the spirit. So consider your goals fine. Tune them a little bit, and I'll see you guys next time right here on Primarily Scripture. Thanks for tuning into Primarily Scripture with Cindy Young. Don't forget you can subscribe to the newsletter and download free worksheets on the website, primarily scripture.com. And if you like the channel, be sure to subscribe, like, share, and leave a review. See you next time.